


The Fly in the Ointment

by kindkit



Category: Tintin
Genre: Age Difference, Ficlet, Fluff, M/M, POV Animal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-23
Updated: 2011-09-23
Packaged: 2017-10-23 23:24:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/256249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kindkit/pseuds/kindkit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things have changed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Fly in the Ointment

**Author's Note:**

> Written in response to a prompt by Miss_Morland, who asked for Haddock/Tintin from an outside POV. I've used Milou's French name here because, well, I prefer it.

Milou has always slept at master Tintin's side. That's his place, ever since he was a puppy and the night was so big it frightened him. Now that he's grown and fearless, he guards Tintin.

But when Tintin started sleeping next to the hairy man, that changed everything. It's not the hairy man who's the problem--the bed's big, so Milou just lies on the other side. Tintin pets him and calls him a good boy, and so does the hairy man sometimes. The hairy man's strong, too, and he barks well; between them, Tintin's sure to be safer than ever.

Milou doesn't even mind when they shoo him out of the room because they want to mate. They always let him back in later, after the howling he set off--he couldn't help it, he was _lonely_ \--the one time they forgot.

No, Milou likes the hairy man. He and Tintin keep each other sweet-tempered, most of the time, and that means Milou gets his favorite treat almost every day even if he barks in the house or forgets to heel.

The problem's the cat. That filthy blue-faced spitting monster. It slinks around and hides and it's got no respect for anyone, not even the hairy man. At night it'll creep into the bedroom and walk all over the bed, cool as you please, stepping on faces and tails, ignoring the hairy man when he grumbles "lie still, you damned beast!" Eventually it curls up on the hairy man's belly and closes its smug eyes and purrs like it owns the world.

It wouldn't bark if a burglar came in, Milou's sure of that. It would just go back to sleep. But the hairy man feeds the disloyal thing salmon and cream, pets it, and so does Tintin. The master smells of cat now, it's horrible.

Milou keeps trying to chase it away, but he just gets clawed by the cat and shouted at by the humans. He's not giving up, though. One day he'll give it the scare it deserves, and then life will be just about perfect.


End file.
